Living around the House
by WithMyFreezeRay
Summary: A seventeen year old prodigy named Elise Archibald is a new intern slash doctor at Princeton Planesboro. Now on a journey that will change how she sees a staff, she meets house and his team of doctors, and explores their personalities. Plz Read and Review
1. I meet Chase, House, and Cuddy

I'm not usually a shy person, but today is an exception. Today, I'm going to Princeton Plainsboro Teaching hospital as a guest slash intern. What makes this different from every other scared shitless intern that probably walks through these doors? I'm a seventeen year old prodigy from a rural town. I thought maybe coming here from Wisconsin might be a mistake, but who knows? I could find a whole new life.

Today, which is another reason I'm scared, I have to meet with the dean of medicine whom my mentor/ best professor, Professor Amsterdam, told me is Dr. Lisa Cuddy. I'm sure she's a pretty nice person, but one never knows, being seventeen and all. I push the glass door aside and am immediately stunned by how many people are stalking around this lobby and nearly drop my bag in surprise. The front desk is surrounded by people, so I decide to take a gamble. I got in the elevator and was pressing the button when another doctor walked into the elevator. He was cute, short blonde hair, cute eyes. He leaned over and pushed the button, which I had so cleverly forgot to do (It's stupid freshman time!).

"So, what brings you here?" the doctor asks me. He scans me over, and I feel a little violated for a second. He probably just realized the white coat sticking out from underneath my heavy winter jacket.

"I'm here to meet with Dr. Cuddy," I say, keeping it on the safe side.

"Either you're really young or you are one healthy doctor," he replies back. "I'm Robert Chase."

"Elise Archibald. Pleased to meet you," he stuck out his hand, and I took it. He had soft hands and a nice firm hand shake. Yes, sadly I do believe in the whole handshake judges your character thing, so Dr. Chase must be a good person. Then I noticed the wedding band.

"Yes, I'm married," he smiled. "So, I'm off limits."

"Oh, no need. I'm seventeen and a half."

"You. You're THAT Elise Archibald. THE one and only Elise Archibald. Let me help you to Cuddy's office," he said as we disembarked the elevator.

"Okay, thank you," I replied happily.

We walked down the hallway chatting about how it was for me to be so young and almost be a doctor, how I barely survived college with older kids, and my mentor Dr. Amsterdam. We approached an office that had silver letters on a glass door. I had to squint to read them because the sunlight was so strong behind me. Sure enough, it said, Dr. Lisa Cuddy: Dean of Medicine. Inside, a woman with dark brown hair sat behind a desk practically screaming at another doctor with light brown-grey hair. It was a whole new experience right there. I decided to tune in.

"No, House. I cannot let you do that to a patient without consent."

"But they need this, or they will die, Cuddy. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but we need consent."

"Ugh! I don't have time for this!"

"Well neither do I! Just go do whatever needs to be done!"

The door opened and I caught a good look at the doctor's face. His eyes were almost unnaturally blue and his gait was broken by his leg. He stopped for a second and looked right at me.

"You may want to be careful, she is a little crazy," He gave a little half-smile and stalked off. I had no idea who this man was at all, but I was interested. Chase gave me my first clue.

"Oh, that's just Doctor House for you. I work for him. Scary, right?"

"Yep, absolutely," I say to Chase, who is turning to walk away.

"Better go catch up to him. Good luck with Cuddy!" he shouted.

I took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked into her office. Cuddy's face was still red in frustration and she tried to hide it, but it just didn't work out for her. She smiled and motioned for me to take a seat.

"Hello. You must be Elise. I'm Lisa Cuddy," she almost sighed the whole entire phrase and then looked at my blank expression. "Oh, sorry about that. Have you ever had one of those days?" she asked.

"Well, with a doctor like him, you must have several," I replied, brushing my own light brown hair from my face.

"You are quite right," she laughed. "House is an ass sometimes. He has his moments though."

We sat and talked about different rules and expectations of the hospital, with a few phone calls interrupting in between. She stayed professional, even though almost every time is WAS House or about him. When we finally got through the whole hour and a half chat, she told me where I was to be assigned.

"You'll be in the clinic, Elise, just for right now. Trust me you won't be there long if you are who you say you are. The locker room for doctors is right down the hall. And the clinic is just back down the elevators. Welcome to the staff," she smiled broadly. Maybe I was one of the first semi normal staff she'd had in forever.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it, Elise?" Cuddy responded.

"Why do you say I won't be in the clinic long?" I was genuinely confused. I couldn't think of one doctor who would scout in a clinic.

"Let's just say someone works down there who thinks he shouldn't have to be down there, but said doctor owes a lot of work hours. He'll find you and pull you right back upstairs where you belong. I just think you should prove yourself first.

"Well thank you for your time, I will not disappoint," I said, and headed for the locker room.


	2. Clinic Sucks

In the locker room, I thought about what Cuddy had said to me about the clinic. Maybe she was right about this. After all, she is the dean of medicine and I am but a lowly intern right now. Then I thought about something else I had picked up on in Cuddy's office. When she'd said House had his moments, her smile was way too big for that to just be another statement. Also, as I left, someone set a big jar of roses on the table, and she turned about as red as one of them. Maybe she hoped I hadn't seen them, or the awkward doctor who delivered them. No dice. I'm smart like that.

I shoved all my stuff in an empty locker and took one last look in the mirror before heading down to the clinic. I looked really tired, but I guess who wouldn't after an early flight from MKE. My brown hair was starting to curl at the bottom around my shoulders, which were pretty wide. I watched my green-blue eyes go downcast in the mirror, making sure I hadn't spilled any breakfast on myself. _Well, it isn't getting any better._ Then, I heard doctor House thunk his way into the room. I retreated into the next row of lockers, just to stay out of his way. He stopped for a second, probably wondering what that noise was.

"Funny," he said to himself, or so I thought. "I swear I thought she was in here."

"Who was in here?" I stepped out from behind the row of lockers.

"The guy behind you. Who do you think?" he said sarcastically.

"Well, it's not the big purple dinosaur behind me, is it?" I tried to answer back smartly.

"You know what? I like you already. She was going to put you in clinic, wasn't she?" he grimaced a little, obviously he didn't agree with Cuddy.

"Yeah. I'm supposed to be going down there now," I replied with false exasperation.

"Well, go do about two hours down there and head back up here. I want to talk to you," he said. "My office is just down the hall from here. Have fun in clinic, I'm so avoiding my time down there today," he turned and headed for the bathroom, so I figured it was time to go.

Okay, if I've learned anything about this hospital already, I know that clinic sucks. I'm constantly on my feet, but it's all petty work. I think that Dr. Amsterdam prepared me for something else entirely because treating the sniffles and occasionally telling someone to "Please, practice safer sex next time," is just not what I'm here to do. Maybe other people are, but this is NOT me. It had been about an hour and a half before I started to become more adamant to run back up a set of stairs for House's office, so I took my last case.

I opened the door and the guy who was sitting before me looked like a very important businessman. He kept staring at his hands, which he was kneading toward his lap. Oh shit. I knew what I had to tell this guy.

"Sir, do I have to ask what you're doing here?" he looked up, surprised. I think he was expecting me to be a nurse or something.

"Well, let's get your synopsis. Doctor…Elise," he had to squint a little to read my coat, but I quickly told him off.

"By the way you keep staring downwards at yourself, I would say you and whoever you are with had a pretty good morning," I started. He nodded, seeming to know what was coming next. "However, um, I'm not sure how to make this polite. You just need to stop popping the pill before you do that. You don't need it, and that's why you're screwed up inside."

"Oh my god, thank you," he said, relieved.

"Yeah, but you may want to call in sick today, sir," I finished. "Be more careful next time."

He thanked me again and I walked out. It was about an hour and forty five minutes after I had spoken with house in the locker room and I decided it was close enough. Get me out of clinic. I walked back to the lobby and got in the elevator. This time, I was followed by a girl doctor. She was younger and pretty, with nice eyes and brownish-blonde hair. She looked nice enough.

"Hello. I don't recall ever seeing you before," the doctor said to me.

"I'm new here," I said. She looked at me appraisingly.

"Do you have a name?" she asked kindly.

"Elise Archibald," I said. She looked a little stunned.

"Oh my. I had no idea Cuddy invited you here," she said. "Oh, and everyone here calls me Cameron by the way."

"Okay, Cameron," then apparently, I saw her wedding ring.

"I think you've met my husband," she said.

"Yes, if you're talking about Chase. He's nice; helped me to Cuddy's office. You're a lucky person," I said kindly.

"Thank you. Where do you happen to be heading?" we were now getting out of the elevator.

"House's office, apparently," I said. Her eyebrows creased a little when I mentioned the name. Interesting… We walked off that way down the hallway. We chatted a bit more, basically about the same stuff Chase had asked me about earlier. Cameron was a very interesting person I must say. Then, we arrived a few rooms down from House's office, where she said good bye.

"I'm going to find Chase. Don't get intimidated, I'll give you that much advice. See ya," she waved and walked away.

I now stood right outside the view of House's office. He was sitting at his desk, throwing a bouncy ball in the air and catching it. I eyed the interesting display of doodads on his desk; I know I'll like working with him. Then I remembered what Cuddy and Cameron had said. Pompous ass. Great. I took another deep breath and walked through the door.


	3. I meet the rest of the Team

"Hey, I knew you'd show up eventually," House said. "If it were me, I wouldn't have made the two hours."

"Oh, so you weren't expecting me to actually finish my clinic time?" I inquired. I should have known he would say something like that; it was totally in his nature. He motioned for me to sit down at his desk. Once seated, he looked me in the eyes for a few moments; it was almost a staring contest. His eyes were so blue I had to question for a moment if they were just contacts or not, but I couldn't see the telltale lines so I accepted that they were real. It was both easy and not easy to see what Cuddy saw in him.

"No, I didn't expect you to stay down there actually," he replied. He picked up the bouncy ball off the desk again and threw it a few times before pulling a "think fast" and I had to catch it quick. "Good reaction time," he muttered senselessly.

"Do I get to know why I'm here?" I asked. Dr. House stared at me a good thirty seconds, and I made a face.

"Yes. You are going to be an honorary member of my team. We're starting a meeting in about two minutes. Are you a sissy, or are you interested?" He asked.

"I'm no sissy," I replied triumphantly. "I wouldn't be here if I was, I'd be back in junior year of high school."

"I thought so. Go sit down in the conference room and they'll meet you in there. Look, there's Chase now. I believe you two have met," he said. I smiled and walked into the next room. Chase glanced up from the file he was staring at.

"Well look who's moved up in the world already," he waved at me. I (once again) brushed the hair out of my face and waved back.

"I couldn't be happier. Clinic sucked. So, what are we facing?"

"Heck, I don't now yet. This is my other surgery today. I'm a very busy person," Chase faced the door, watching another doctor walk in. She was very pretty with light brown hair and green eyes.

"Hey, how's it going?" Chase asked her.

"Oh, fine, I guess," she replied, staring at me. I waved slightly. She was about to ask who I was when two more doctors walked in. One had dark skin, and the other I recognized as the awkward doctor holding the roses. They both stared at me, the awkward one raised his eyebrows. Everyone sat down and House walked in holding the file that was sitting on his desk.

"Thirty year old female: Seizures, hallucinations, weakness. Any ideas?" House asked. I thought maybe Meningitis.

"I have one. Tell us who she is," demanded the pretty girl doctor.

"Oh, how rude of me, or of you. You didn't even try asking her," He retorted. The cute doctor blushed. "This, everyone is Archie," I slapped my forehead. How many years was that nickname going to follow me? I sighed.

"My full name is Elise Archibald," I added. Everyone cast me a knowing glance. Evidently word had gotten around that I was here, but no one but Chase knew who I was.

"I'm Dr. Hadley," the pretty doctor said. "But everyone around here calls me Thirteen."

"I'm Dr. Foreman," the darker skinned doctor continued the introductions.

"Dr. Wilson. We've met, but you didn't know my name at the time," the awkward doctor spoke up.

"I'm pleased to meet you all. Thanks for the introduction," I replied happily.

"No problem, Archie, no problem," Foreman said. He then turned to House. "As you were saying?"

"Finally. Any ideas?" House raised his eyebrows. "No? Well think on it, review the symptoms, and come up with some ideas. Also, run some tests. In the meantime, I'm going back to my office to watch my soaps. Bye," He turned around and left.

"Is he always like that?" I whispered to Wilson, who was sitting on my right.

"Yeah, pretty much. Welcome aboard," he shook my hand. One could definitely tell he was awkward.

"Any juice on him and Cuddy?" I continued.

"Oh, you have no idea."


	4. Lunch with a Background

Later on, I sat around a lunch table with Chase, Cameron, Thirteen, and Wilson. They all politely listened to me rant on about how much I loved Wisconsin. It seemed a little selfish of me, but they all sat there. After I was done, we talked about the case, then our conversation switched gears again.

"You looked like you wanted to know some more about House," Wilson said. I blushed slightly and uttered a small yes. "Well, you've come to the right place," he smiled.

"House and Cuddy have been at each other's throats for as long as I've been here," Chase started.

"Now, House has just come back from rehab for vicodin," Thirteen continued.

"They've been attracting each other for as long as I've been around, too," Cameron said next.

Wilson waved everyone off and told the rest. "House has gotten a little more friendly to Cuddy since he's been back, which has been about three weeks now. He's offered to take her out to dinner several times now, and she's only accepted once, which was just yesterday but now with their little spat you witnessed, Cuddy will use it as an excuse to not go. She'll claim she's still mad."

"Oh. That's too bad," I said glumly. Wilson patted me on the back.

"Trust me, she'll come around eventually. Besides, there's a big dinner for a drug company two days from now and he's trying to get her to go with him. Just like a date," the last word caught in Wilson's throat a bit. Maybe something traumatizing happened to him? She'd find out sooner or later. Man, this is just like high school.

"Hey, does anyone feel like we should go run some tests now? Maybe go visit with our patient? It's not like House ever does," Thirteen said. Everyone nodded and we got up and moved on.

Today I learned that five people in an elevator is a bit stuffy when everyone in it is trying to update you on the last five years of this hospital. So I stopped everyone dead in their tracks.

"Whoa. I only want to hear one story at a time. I'm overwhelmed guys!" I practically shouted. We had just reached our floor when I finished what I had to say, so some of the people waiting for the elevator thought we were just plain nuts, but at this point, I wouldn't have doubted that. We made a pretty strange team.

On our way to our patient's room, Thirteen told me a story about how she almost died when a patient hyped her on a bunch of drugs at once. Everyone was looking at the floor for that one. Apparently it was a hostage situation where this old guy held up a bunch of people just for an answer to his problem. I gave a low whistle at the end.

"You know what the best part of that story was? Cuddy lost her office for a while!" we all started and turned around to see House standing behind us. He smiled broadly at the fact that he'd been able to scare us so efficiently.

"So she roomed with you for some time, did she not?" Wilson said. House grimaced. It must have been a bittersweet fact.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, she did. Just go talk to the patient now," he said, and stalked off at his (what I now called) usual pace down the hall. We continued on.

Finally, we reached the room and opened the door. The woman looked so small, so fragile all tangled in the cords and IVs that ran down her arm. She was sleeping, or in a coma; one of the two. It must have been sleeping because she woke up when we walked in.

"What's going on?" she asked sleepily.

"I'm Dr. Chase and this is Dr. Hadley, Dr. Wilson, and Dr. Archibald. We're your team, under the direction of Dr. Greg House," he said very professionally. The woman stared at me for a second.

"Thanks. I'm Alison. Are you sure she's supposed to be here?" the woman pointed at me.

"Yeah. She's part of the team. Don't tell me you've never heard of Elise before," Wilson said.

"Oh okay! It's an honor Miss Archibald," Alison said humbly.

"Why, thank you. I—" I was blushing, but soon realized something wasn't right about poor Alison. Her eyes were starting to roll back into her head. "Um guys? We need to work here," I said. Sure enough, they were already hard at work and I sat there like a bump on a log.

"Don't worry, your time will come," Dr. Foreman walked up behind her. "Oh, and Doctor House wants to talk to you again. Don't ask me why because I really don't know."

"Okay. See you in a bit!" I said brightly and turned on my heel.


	5. I walk into a debate Help!

Even though I had shown enthusiasm to Foreman, I was actually nervous to meet with House again. Was he going to throw me off the team already? I hadn't even had time to do anything! Talk about a tough hospital. On the other hand, I could be in trouble with Cuddy for cutting clinic early, but I'm sure she'd be more mad at House. I could also be re assigned to a different department. Honestly, I wanted to find out if I liked it here, which I did so far. All I could do was wait and see. I took a deep breath because, hey, I'd already done a lot of deep breathing today. Soon, I approached House's office. He was talking calmly to someone in his office, so I stood on the other side of the wall so I could listen and not be seen.

"Come on! You said you'd go to dinner with me! Don't back out now!" he pleaded. House was pleading with Cuddy! Oh my, he must be in too deep, then again, when weren't guys?

"No, honestly I can't after how you treated me in my office today!"

"I sent you roses!"

"That doesn't automatically make things right!" Cuddy heaved. Why couldn't she just go to dinner? I felt this conversation needed an end. I had no idea what I was in for when I opened the door.

"Archie! Please tell Cuddy that I tried to say sorry!" he practically demanded of me.

"Elise, please tell Greg that I'm not dealing with this hot and cold attitude!" I'm trapped here. What to say? Should I express my feelings, or just give them bogus advice or walk out? This is definitely a corner. I'm backed to the wall. They stare at me expectantly.

"You're both wrong!" I blurt. They stand with their eyes locked on me for an explanation. "You, Doctor House, should be a little more sympathetic to Cuddy. Secondly, if you want to take this seriously, you can't always be at each other's throats! It doesn't work that way. And Cuddy, don't think you aren't to blame here. You need to understand where House is coming from. He was mean, but he apologized and gave you flowers. I wouldn't turn that down!"

They both stared a little longer, Cuddy looked defeated. "I still like her," House lamented to Cuddy and pointed at me. I turned a little pink. Cuddy smiled at me and turned to leave.

"Still on for tonight?" she asked House.

"Sure, why not? Make sure you thank Archie here, she's a genius," he said.

"Hey kid, thanks," she smiled and walked out. House turned back to me.

"Good reasoning, Archie. I won that round," he put a triumphant fist in the air, but I quickly rained on the parade.

"Sorry, Doctor House, but I believe you just happened to win that match," I said.

"Whatever, it's still a victory. So, do you know why I called you down here yet?"

"No, actually. I've been wondering," I replied.

"Oh, well I was just going to ask you, what would be the best way to admit to someone you love them?" he asked. He was quite serious for a guy who never seemed to take anything seriously. He's just full of surprises.

"I'd take Cuddy to dinner tonight, then ask her to that dinner two days from now. Offer to pick her up tonight, then take her somewhere spectacular. She won't say no if you flatter her, trust me. It's why I can't find a guy," I said sadly.

"Well, you are the perfect person to ask for advice right now considering that you are younger. If anything, don't get as sarcastic as me, and please, you will find someone eventually," he said to me. I felt for a second that he sounded like my father. I missed my dad. I definitely saw him in House.

"Thanks, but I don't know many normal guys who would go out with me," I answered.

"You'll figure it out, eventually. Hey, I got a question. Do you like Guitar Hero?"

"I may not be like a normal teen in some ways, but I am in others," I smiled.

"Well, want to play? I have to hide this from Cuddy, or she'd take it. I'd be breaking the rules."

"I'd be honored, but I warn you now, I suck at this. And why do you break the rules all the time?" it was a fair question.

He stared at me with a knowing glance for a second. He looked like a mischevious second grader. I automatically knew what he would say next.

"Because, the rules were meant to be broken."


	6. I become emotionally confusled

House went to make a move for the cabinet, but not before doctor Wilson walked in. He seemed flustered as he stared at House.

"You know, anything you're thinking is against the law!" Wilson remarked. I blushed and slid further into my seat.

"God, Wilson, we were just talking. Look, now you've freaked her out."

"Guys! Just stop okay?" I asked, surprised I had spoken up yet again. I never did this at home.

"Huh? Okay fine. Alison doesn't have cancer. We've ruled out Cancer okay, House? NO CANCER!!!"

"Could you make it a little clearer?" House asked, slightly amused by the display Wilson was putting on.

"I could use a powerpoint, a poster board, or how about my personal favorite, a hammer?" Wilson said. "Come on, Elise, I want you to help me with some more tests," I nodded quietly and left.

"Ahem, Wilson, you're stealing my new doctor," House said.

"It's not like I'm stealing your car. Give it a rest," Wilson said, slamming the door and started off down the hallway.

"Um, are you his guinea pig all the time?" I asked. Wilson wheeled around like I had just uncovered gold from dog crap.

"Does someone finally see my hell?"

"I'd say it's about the seventeenth ring right there. He fights like a teenager," I lamented. Wilson smiled. "I never got the chance to ask, what's your story?"

"Oh, I'm just the typical loveable loser. I lose everything. My privacy, my girlfriend, and today, just about lost my lunch in the elevator."

"I'm so sorry. You don't seem like a bad person at all to me," I said. Oops. I probably sound like a suckup. He notices and looks back at me suddenly. I shrug as we stride towards an office at the end of the hall.

"So…you've probably noticed I'm House's it's not cancer guy by now…"

"Yeah… I feel kinda bad for you actually."

"Oh, you don't have to. I'm used to this crap. I put up with him on a daily basis, as does everyone else in this place. I'm not going to lie, I'm a mess, ok? I blubbering, stupid mess."

"Aww, why?" I ask innocently enough, but now I know he's going to spill his whole life story.

"Because my girlfriend is dead, and House pretty much was the cause of that. I got mad when he could see her in hallucinations and I couldn't. I want her back, Elise. And see, with this whole dinner and House's date and then everyone is so…"

"Together, right?" I ventured.

"Exactly. I'm so alone. House knows. He knows I talk in my sleep, that I'm a sad sap, and I pretty much told him while drugged Cuddy didn't like him… I'm wrong… I'm always right in the cancer department, but so wrong when it comes to house and relationships. I'm the opposite of love advice. What do I do?" Crap. Wilson was spilling so many beans right now that I could hardly keep up.

"So, you and House are roommates?"

"Yeah."

"I can assume safely sharing feelings doesn't work, right?"

"Pretty Much, or he turns them against me."

"Well then, I'd suggest trying to get over, um," I faltered.

"Amber. I need to, don't I?"

"If you ever want to be yourself again," I suggested. He smiled at me thoughtfully.

"I'm glad Cuddy let you come here. You just may be a miracle worker. I owe you one," Wilson said. I pushed a Kleenex box at him. "Really?" I nodded. He seemed embarrassed.

"No need to be embarrassed, Wilson. This is what I have of normal childhood. The only way I am normal," I admitted. Relationship advice. I had always been a help in that department. I always knew what to say, even if I couldn't find a guy myself. Hey, it was all in the plan. I got up, thinking it was about time I went back to the board room to find the team.

"By the way, you're doing a great job today," Wilson winked at me as I left the room. Wait, winked at me? I was flustered as hell, so I ducked into a doorway and texted my best friend from home, Katherine.

ME: Hey Kat, I need help…

KAT: You're telling me?

ME: NO NO NO… this doctor, he just told me I was doing a good job and WINKED at me.

KAT: Well then,you must be doing a good job.

ME: No, but I'm flustered as hell. What do I do?

KAT: Take him to dinner…

ME: Katherine, I'm sixteen

KAT: Well, how old is he?

ME: Thirtysomething… I make the wrong choices…

KAT: Doesn't matter! Do it!!!

ME: But—

KAT: AP Gov. Sorry, sister!

ME: Good luck!

I stared at my texts for a few minutes before noticing a presence standing right in front of me. Cuddy. Great. She eyed the phone as I quickly tried to find an excuse.

"Flustered already? Is it House?" she asked. I let out a nervous breath, thinking she was going to stick me for being on my cell.

"No, no. Just a little moral support, maybe," I answered.

"Better hurry back, I think Chase just made a break in the case!" Cuddy replied, smiled at me, and said one more thing before turning away. "Just remember, even though these guys don't have this permission, my door's always open."

Good to know, Cuddy. Good to know…


End file.
